The View From Down Here

Do ghost towns creep you out?

Not me, I find them fascinating. One of my favorite things is to take road trips and stop at abandoned towns. Not the revitalized, “artsy” ghost towns, mind you, I mean the really abandoned ones. They are getting hard to find, but there are still some.

There is something about the desolate stillness of these places. It’s not the peacefulness of a wilderness setting – not the gentle stirring of feeling you get in a natural setting. No, it’s an emptiness. Perhaps a longing. A feeling that things have simply stopped, and maybe, maybe if you close your eyes they might start up again when you open them. The energy of the place, once thrumming, is lying still: a potential just out of reach of mind and sense.

There is one of these towns that I have long wished to go see, but I can’t manage to get there: Cheniere au Tigre. Even the name is fascinating, mysterious. Why can’t I get there? Simple: no roads go there. Of course, the lack of access makes it all the more fascinating to me.

My research indicates that it is small island (probably the tip of salt dome like High Island) way down on the south Louisiana coast in Vermillion parish. The island was inhabited off and on during the settlement and revolutionary periods. Continuous habitation began in the mid 1800’s and even included a resort. Habitation waned in the 1930’s and ended when the island was struck by a hurricane in the 1950’s. I have seen some reports that the island is still used as a remote fishing camp location.

One of the most curious things about Cheniere au Tigre, however, is its prominence on the internet. Try this: do a search for Cheniere au Tigre on Google. Seriously, try it. I’ll even make it easy for you. Hundreds of hits, right? Some of the hits are historical data, some are about a coastline preservation program, and still others are references to an autonomous weather station that must be placed there. The hits that strike me, though, are the ones advertising hotels, pharmacies, and other businesses nearby as if the town were some sort of modern vacation destination. There is even one hit to a self-hypnosis site in the UK that advertises being very easy to get to from Cheniere au Tigre. Somehow, I doubt the true ease of that trip since I can’t even seem to get to Cheniere au Tigre, and I live on the same continent. Soon, I suppose, the google search will even link to this blog post. That's OK, at least this post is on topic.

So there you have it, my first entry in the Lost Places Index: Cheniere au Tigre. I have always longed to go there. One day I will. I let you know all about it when I get back.

Have you heard that 1/3 of the people in Washington D.C. are illiterate?

Those numbers astound me. The idea seems so incredible that I begin to wonder by what standards are they judging literacy.

So I begin to wonder, what are we teaching our kids? In theory, they attend school for 10 or more years. How does this happen? Is it just a series of so-called ‘social promotions’ that keep putting the kids into the next grade when they haven’t mastered the material from the first?

I don’t know. I won’t pretend to have any answers on this issue. I’m no educator, nor do I have any school age children. However, I can make some comments on the nature of children’s pre-kindergarten educational programming based on personal experience.

1. Sesame Street
I used to watch this show myself. I’ve even noticed that some of the short sets are the same from the ‘70s when I was a kid (Just the other day, I saw the short set featuring the song ‘Everybody Sleeps’, or something like that. Just like it was when I was a kid.). Some things are different though. I don’t see a lot of letters and numbers anymore - not as much counting. My memory may be fuzzy from 30 years of intervening life, but I remember Sesame Street being all about counting (e.g. “One! One peanut butter sandwich! Two! Two peanut butter sandwiches!”) and sounding out words (e.g. “C… at. Cat.”). Now the show seems to focus heavily on social issues. Here’s a case in point: one of the single adult characters on the show recently adopted a child from a foreign country. Much time was spent on this. It doesn’t matter what you think of that social issue, the only thing I’m pointing out is that it is no longer a show primarily about counting and spelling. Add to this the character Elmo. He’s fantastically popular and (albeit disgustingly) cute, but here is a major character that does not even speak proper English. The Elmo character just doesn’t use personal pronouns (i.e. he says, “Elmo wants… blah blah.” Instead of ‘I want…”). Not only does this grate on an adult’s nerves, I question having a popular character speaking in such poor grammar and possibly, by example, teaching it. Perhaps, one of the adults should finally teach Elmo how to speak properly and his speech rehabilitation can figure into the show. You think I’m kidding.

2. Thomas the Tank Engine
I really enjoy watching this program with my son on Sundays. It’s cute, but have begun to notice a recurring theme: the importance of “usefulness” to society. I know, that doesn’t sound too obnoxious, but the way it is presented in the show bothers me. The engines are always being judged on their usefulness to their society (in isolation of other norms) and those that are not useful are punished, scolded, or ostracized from the group until they mend their ways. The reasoning that is given for an unreliable engine being punished never has to do with outcome and consequences of their actions, but is purely that they have not been "useful". Free thinking, independence, and exploring options always seem to result in the engine failing in usefulness to the group.

Although it is important to be a productive member of society (and kids should be raised to be become such), I find this apparent message in the show that one's worth is based solely on usefulness to the group a bit disturbing.

The show is British in origin, I wonder if that has anything to do with it. Maybe I'm misunderstanding a cultural connotation.

3. Caillou, Curious George, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Dragon Tails
These are all cute shows. Here again, though, these are all shows that focus on teaching social mores or are just pure entertainment. Not a single one teaches reading, counting, etc.

All of the shows listed above make up almost the entirety of the PBS children’s programming (I refuse, personally, to watch Barney and Teletubbies, so no comment there). Only one of them, Sesame Street, teaches any sort of reading skills, and Sesame Street seems to be slacking off.

I went to kindergarten with the ability to do simple reading, counting, arithmetic, and understand simple science principles. I learned it from shows like the Electric Company, 3-2-1 Contact, Reading Rainbow, and (the older) Sesame Street. These shows and their ilk don’t seem to be on TV anymore. Why have they gone? Why do all the existing shows focus on teaching social mores?

I don’t know. But it bothers me.

Ever been totally disappointed in something you were looking forward to?

I’ll say it simply: “300” sucks. Yep. Totally. Were talking Dyson crossed with Hoover times ten. Throw in some Eureka for flavor and there you have it.

Let me be straight forward: I’m a bit of history buff – especially regarding early warfare. But I’m also a long-time comic and Frank Miller fan. I know how to balance historical inaccuracy with the needs of artful story telling. This wasn’t it.

I would probably have left in the middle of this atrocity, but I went to see it at the Alamo Drafthouse, where I ordered some snacks and a beer (good thing – I needed it). Walking out would have wasted perfectly good food and drink.

If you must go see this, do what I did, go see it at a Drafthouse or Movie Grill. At least you can enjoy some snacks. The movie is mildly good at providing background noise.

That’s about it.

Did you know laughter can make you sick?

Sad, but true. And I thought laughter was supposed to be ‘the best medicine’.

Yesterday, I was playing with my little boy and his puppets. The puppets were dancing. I was singing. My son was laughing. We both carried on for several minutes, laughing in fits. Every now and then one of the puppets would pop-out and get his nose. That really made him happy. He laughed so hard he almost couldn’t stand up anymore. Then, he turned around and retched. He seemed to be as surprised as I was. Needless to say, the puppets got dropped and the baby got washed (and the floor, and the chair, and the… wait… this list is already gross enough).

I thought about it later… my mom used to warn me about this same thing when I was little, “If you laugh too much, you’ll start crying.” I never knew when she meant. It seemed contradictory. It seemed to make as much sense as some of the other things she told me, which is to say: none at all. Over the years, though, I’ve discovered many of those things my mother used to tell me were true – sometimes painfully true. I’ll have to add this laughter thing to the list.

It makes me wonder about other things my mother told me: are they true too? So far, the Wisdom of Mom has never been controverted, only confirmed. I suppose all those ‘mom-isms’ are collected from life and raising kids and growing old. These things are the common life experience of our world, I suppose they can’t help but be true.

One thing, though, I still haven’t succeeded in getting my face to “stick that way”. Although, mom never did give me a solid time frame on that one…